A liquid crystal display has the advantages of portability, low power consumption, and low radiation, and has been widely used in various portable information products such as cell phones, notebooks, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Nowadays, with more and more means of electronic communication available, video meetings and video chats are commonplace. Liquid crystal displays with built-in video cameras are becoming increasingly popular.
Referring to FIG. 3, a typical computer device 10 includes a liquid crystal display 11, a host 12, and a transmission line 13. The liquid crystal display 11 is connected to the host 12 via the transmission line 13. The host 12 includes a universal serial bus (USB) controller 121. The liquid crystal display 11 includes a front bezel 111, a back housing (not labeled), a camera 113, and a liquid crystal panel 112 received between the front bezel 111 and the back housing. The camera 113 is disposed in a middle of a top edge portion of the liquid crystal display 11. The front bezel 111 defines a circular opening (not labeled) in a middle of a top portion thereof, and the camera is exposed at the opening. The camera 113 is capable of capturing videos or still pictures, and transmitting the captured videos or still pictures to the USB controller 121 via the transmission line 13.
When the camera 113 is used to capture videos, the camera 113 is activated by the host 12. Then, the camera 113 begins to capture a video. A video signal is generated and transmitted to the USB controller 121, the host 12 reads and processes the video signal, and sends the video signal to the liquid crystal display 11. Thus, the liquid crystal display 11 can display the video captured by the camera 113. Similarly, the liquid crystal display 11 can display video captured by a camera 113 of another liquid crystal display 11 that is linked to the liquid crystal display 11. However, the camera 113 can only capture videos of people and objects directly in front of the liquid crystal display 11. The camera 113 cannot capture videos of people and objects that are, for example, at a rear of the liquid crystal display 11. Thus the liquid crystal display 11 has limited video capture functionality. For example, the liquid crystal display 11 is unable to provide a full range of angles for video surveillance.
What is needed, therefore, is a liquid crystal display that can overcome the above-described deficiencies.